Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes and Ross Marquand as Aaron in AMC’s “The Walking Dead” Season 7, Episode 9. The show’s creative team is now suing the network over compensation. (Gene Page/AMC)

Members of "The Walking Dead's" creative team want their "pound of flesh" from AMC.

The show's co-creator, along with its roster of producers, are suing AMC for what they believe is unfair compensation.

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"The Walking Dead," a show that's aired since 2010, is a ratings juggernaut, continually winning the prime 18-49 demographic.

But co-creator Robert Kirkman, who provided the comic book source material, and producers Glen Mazzara, David Alpert and Gale Anne Hurd have sued AMC in Los Angeles Superior Court, the Washington Post reports.

Robert Kirkman arrives at the L.A. Premiere of "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 2 at Cinemark Playa Vista on March 29, 2016, in Los Angeles. Kirkman is a plaintiff in a suit against AMC over allegedly unfair compensation over the show. (Rich Fury/Rich Fury/Invision/AP)

They claim that the conflict is due to a peculiar facet of the production: the fact that the network that airs the show also owns the company which produces it, AMC Studios.

Co-creator Frank Darabont, who left the show in the second season, also filed suit against AMC, claiming that he, too, was not compensated fairly, the Washington Post writes.

The argument is that the ownership dynamic at AMC allowed the network to withhold some profits that are typically paid to a production company and distributed to the creative team and talent.

The newer form of "vertical integration" which finds AMC both airing and producing the show, has led to the alleged snub.

Typically, a network will pay a licensing fee to a production company, and the latter would vie for as much as possible.

But the AMC format allegedly keeps the money flowing through its own coffers.

The "Fin-Syn Rules" set up by the FCC in 1970 dictated that a production company must be a separate entity from the network that airs a show, The Post writes.

But after intense lobbying during the Clinton administration, that rule was overturned. This allowed for more frequent and large-scale mergers.

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Thus, AMC is able to own its own production studio.

"The Walking Dead" case finds the plaintiffs arguing that very point — that AMC allegedly low-balled a figure to pay its talent on the show.

The suit mentions three other AMC shows — "Breaking Bad," "Better Call Saul" and "Mad Men" — which were made in outside studios and received higher licensing fees than "The Walking Dead." This meant those involved earned more of the profits.

However, AMC told the Washington Post in a statement that the suit is predictable — and can occur when a program finds success.

"Virtually every studio that has had a successful show has been the target of litigation like this, and 'The Walking Dead' has been the #1 show on television for five years in a row, so this is no surprise," AMC wrote.

"We have enormous respect and appreciation for these plaintiffs, and we will continue to work with them as partners, even as we vigorously defend against this baseless and predictably opportunistic lawsuit," it continued.